Definition of "mutawa" [mutawa]

• A member of the religious police in an Islamic country, especially Saudi Arabia. (noun)
• The religious police as a body. (noun)

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• "The encounter, described by Al-Watan newspaper last month, was the latest move by the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, known as the mutawa’a, to improve its image."
• "If she is approached by the mutawa - the religious police - she's willing to back chat."
• "Young Saudi women whom I interviewed said that the popular king has relaxed the grip of the bullying mutawa, the bearded religious police officers who patrol the streets ready to throw you in the clink at the first sign of fun or skin."